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"Goddamnit." I jump up, curling my hands around the phone although I want to smash it. "That one came from my top drawer."
*
~ELIZABETH~
As soon as I get back to my room, I see a message on my phone from Loveless. 'Call me ASAP.'
That seems random. I hope nothing is wrong. I pick a soft-looking wing-backed chair to sit in, stick my feet on the foot stool and count the rings. She answers on the third, and I can hear in her voice that she's been crying. "Scarlett. How are you?"
"I'm fine, but what's wrong?"
She sniffs, and there's a long pause before she whispers, "It's Sarabelle. They...found her body.”
I press my hand over my mouth. “Oh my God. Loveless, I'm so sorry.”
“We're all in a state of shock. But that's not all.” She speaks even more softly, so I can barely hear her. “FBI agents came by today.” I hear a shuffling sound, and when she speaks again her voice is muffled. “Scarlett...you can't tell anybody but...they think Hunter did it."
My stomach bottoms out. "Holy shit."
"But he didn't, Scarlett. I’ve known him for years. He would never do this."
I lean my head against the chair, feeling dizzy. “If he didn't do it, why do they think he did?”
“That's what I don't know. But I thought that you would want to know that something's going down.”
I nod, feeling...stunned. “That's so crazy.” And then I remember myself, and what this call is really about. "I'm so sorry about your friend, Loveless."
"It could have been me. It could have been any of us." Her voice breaks. "But Sarabelle was so sweet. It shouldn't have been her."
“It shouldn’t have been anyone,” I say.
Loveless sniffs, then says, “Just be careful. Not from Hunter—well, you should be if you get a bad feeling, but I don't think you will. Be careful because something's going on, and now that you've been here at Love Inc., you're one of us.”
For some reason, her words make my eyes water. “Thank you, Loveless. Thank you so much. I'll be thinking about you. About all you guys. Take care of yourself, okay?”
I hang up the phone with a heavy feeling in my stomach and read two texts from Sur.
'Did u know one of escorts frm brothel found dead??!!'
Thirty minutes later. 'U ok? Msg me back. Paranoid here!'
I take a deep breath and tell myself that I can handle this. I don't need to message Suri for backup, and I don't need to go running home like a chicken.
All of a sudden it hits me that this must be why Hunter was so weird last night. He must have found out about Sarabelle then. Wow. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be falsely accused of something like that.
Unless he did it.
He didn't kidnap her, did he?
Of course not. I shake my head and send a reply to Suri: 'I'm fine. Cross??'
'Doing good. I'm here now.'
‘Gr8. Can I call him l8r, even if u not there?’
While I wait for her reply, I change into my sexy clothes—a fresh red teddy and crotchless panties, followed by my black, silky robe—but I don't feel sexy. I feel sad. Sad for Sarabelle, sad for my friends at Love Inc., sad for Hunter. Last night he was clearly grieving.
I'm walking to my en suite bathroom, ready to lather myself with lotion in anticipation of the big event, when I hear a deep boom from somewhere in the house. I stop in mid-step, all the hair on my arms standing on end as I realize the sound is shouting. Hunter's shouting. It grows louder in time with loud steps down the hall.
